JUDGMENT :

1. This petition has been moved for regular bail for the petitioner in FIR No.474/2021 PS Aman Vihar under sections 498A/304B/34 IPC. The petitioner has been in custody since 7th November, 2021 and he was granted bail vide order dated 5th July, 2022 and according to the learned counsel for petitioner, he did not misuse the liberty granted to him.

2. As per the case of the prosecution, on 4th September, 2021 information was received that Sapna, wife of Rahul aged 23 years was admitted in hospital and has been declared brought dead. At the place of incident, the house where Sapna was living with her husband and their family i.e. B-233, Hari Enclave, Part II, Kirari, Suleman Nagar, a saree cut into 3 pieces and a suicide note was found. As per the suicide note, it was allegedly stated by the deceased that the persons responsible for her death would be husband and her in-laws and that they had been making demands of dowry from her. It was revealed that she was married to Rahul Gupta @ Gaurav in May 2021 and expired within 5 months of marriage. Statement of mother of deceased Smt. Guddi was recorded stating that ‘the in-laws were demanding dowry and since they could not fulfil their demands, her daughter must have taken her life’. The person who was the common connect between the two families viz. Rama Shanker, had informed her about the suicide by her daughter. The statement of the father of the deceased was also recorded and FIR was subsequently registered. As per the post mortem report the cause of death was opined as „death due to asphyxia as a result of ante mortem hanging’.

3. As per statements of father and mother of the deceased, there were various demands of dowry which were communicated to them by Rama Shanker from time to time. The husband Rahul Kumar was arrested on 5th September, 2021 and was sent to judicial custody while mother in law and father in law of deceased namely Meera Devi and Teekam Singh (the petitioner herein) were also arrested on 7th September, 2021 and were also sent to judicial custody. The case is pending for trial in the court of Ld. ASJ and charge sheet has been filed. The complainant, mother of the deceased as well as Rama Shanker have already been examined.

4. As per learned counsel for the petitioner, a perusal of suicide note would reveal that no specific date or incident has been mentioned in the suicide note and it is a generic suicide note made by the deceased sating that the husband and the in laws were responsible for her death.

5. It was further submitted that while the statement of mother of the deceased does mention that death of her daughter was triggered by dowry demands of her husband and her in laws, the statement of father of the deceased specifically mentions that their daughter told them every time that it was the mother in law and her husband who used to keep telling her to bring money and there was no mention of father in law (the petitioner herein). It was further contended that Rama Shanker in his testimony as PW-1 before the Ld. Trial Court had stated that the petitioner and his family never made any dowry demands at the time of marriage and the marriage was solemnized between the families on their own. Further he stated that after 2-3 days of marriage, he had visited the matrimonial house of the deceased when she told him that she was fine. It was the same position when he visited the deceased after one month of her marriage. He stated that he had visited the matrimonial home, she did not make any complaint against her husband or in laws and he had also not seen any instance of beatings to her by them.

6. Learned counsel for the petitioner further submitted that there were serious improvements in the testimony of PW-2, mother of the deceased before the Ld. Trial Court as was evident from her cross examination. Further, since the complainant and the independent witness Rama Shanker have already been examined, there was no possibility of the petitioner tampering wit